60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Alaska

Alaska

2018-19 Record: 12-21-3 (12-14-2, 7th in WCHA)
Head Coach: Erik Largen, 2nd Year
Top returning scorer: Steven Jandric (9G-15A)
Top returning goaltender: Anton Martinsson (Sr.)

It's difficult to be tested more than Alaska last season. The Nanooks began the year with a non-conference stretch featuring three NCAA Tournament teams in Arizona State, St. Cloud State and Denver, plus opening WCHA play against eventual champion Minnesota State. Three of the four series were away from Fairbanks.

Not surprisingly, Alaska ended October 0-7-1 and outscored 31-9.

Eventually, things did get better under new head coach Erik Largen. The Nanooks eventually beat Minnesota State, along with NCAA Tournament participant Bowling Green and WCHA fourth-place finisher Lake Superior State. Steven Jandric built upon a 23 point freshman season to finish with 9 goals and 24 points in conference play. Largen, the third head coach in as many seasons, ended his first year in Fairbanks with 12 wins and a WCHA playoff appearance.

What's New: Uncertainty. Not of the hockey variety, though. Between the state of Alaska cutting more than $100 million from the university budget, a failed veto override attempt and trying to figure out what comes next, there's a massive cloud hanging over the future of both Alaska programs in Fairbanks and Anchorage.

If that somehow gets cleared up for the start of the season, there's still the issue of finding a long-term home. Seven of the other 9 WCHA schools announced last month plans to leave the conference beginning in 2021-22. Alaska, along with Alabama Huntsville and Alaska Anchorage, finds itself blindsided by the news.

Whether it's at Carlson Center or a move on-campus to the smaller Patty Center as part of budget cuts, Alaska's Hockey Bear has every reason to blow up seven rinks and more in an animated intro.


Closing Thoughts: Honestly, it's difficult to treat Alaska as a normal preview.

Yes, it would be nice to just write about who is returning and what adjustments Largen can make for this season. He's back for a second one. Only losing four seniors keeps stability...on the ice. Not discussing the budget issue would be preview malpractice when the entire future remains up in the air. If anything, the situation has gotten worse throughout July. (The UA Board of Regents declared a financial exigency earlier this week.) So much can change between now and when the 2019-20 season begins in October.

The situation the Nanooks (as well as the Seawolves) find themselves being tested in is nowhere near normal. Teams and players fight for their seasons. They don't usually fight for the program's existence.

As of this publication, a team still exists. Again, a crazy thing to write in a preview for the upcoming season and one more fitting for a eulogy. Alaska has had a rich history, being a place where Don Lucia and Guy Gadowsky got their head coaching starts. It's a place where Dallas Ferguson took the Nanooks to the 2010 NCAA Tournament. It's a place where current NHLers like Chad Johnson and Colton Parayko, who lifted the Stanley Cup in June, played their college careers.

It's a place, wherefrom the Great West to the CCHA to the WCHA and beyond, collegians have been tested in more ways than one.

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